This invention relates to amine catalysts useful in producing polyurethane foam products. More particularly, it relates to amine catalysts useful for producing polyurethane foam products which have low volatility. The low-volatility catalysts of the invention provide for the manufacture of polyurethane foam products useful as automotive interior components which do not emit vapors over time or under the effects of heat which would otherwise cause nuisance fogging of windshields, and also reduce the chemical content of the air inside vehicles to which a driver or passengers are otherwise exposed to.
The prior art is replete with catalyst systems useful in producing polyurethane foam products which may be used in the interior of automobiles. However, the catalysts used in polyurethane systems of prior art contain volatile amines which may exude out of the foam product and cause fogging on the windshield inside of a car or other vehicle, in addition to exposing the occupants of such vehicles to these amines.
World Patent Application WO 01/02459 attempts to alleviate such problems by providing reactive imidazoles with reactive hydroxyl compounds for producing foams with low fogging characteristics.
The present invention provides a catalyst system useful in producing a polyurethane foam product which comprises:
a) a first catalyst defined by the structure: 
and
b) a second catalyst described by the structure: 
in which R is hydrogen or any alkyl group having between 1 and 10 carbon atoms, straight-chain or branched; and Rxe2x80x3 is methyl or: 